Colorful depiction of a hair combing peasant girl graces this micro mosaic brooch purchased during the Grand Tour and brought back to my country to be set in an elaborate 18K bezel decorated with a cushion . The glass tesserae are probably set in black glass or Onyx.
I admire this Micro Mosaic brooch as one of my favorites.
The teasserae are very tiny and are almost perfect. The brooch has one little hallmark on the stem. I know this brooch was a wedding present for a fresh married bride given by her husband and bought in Italy or Switserland at the end of the 19th century.
Could anybody tell me some more about it. For example what kind of a peasant robe this lady is wearing? And a little bit more of the time period. I for myself think about 1850. Thanking in advance !
I was very surprised to see this (my) brooch come along in a youTube film with explaination about antique Micro Mosaic jewelry.
If you want to know more about Micro Mosaic you can take a look:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14896068
around the 45th minute of this little story this brooch is coming along.

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Comments

Agram.m, 4 years agoI'v looked for and got an answer on looking for the origin of this brooch. It is probably made in Italy (Rome) about 1850/1860 and the micromosaic depicts a lady taken from "I Costumi d'Italia" by Bartolomeo Pinelli, mid 19th century.
Nice to know of course !

Agram.m, 4 years agoIs there any one who can tell more about this brooch?

wolcott1, 4 years agoIt's in beautiful condition. Just stunning. Many of the micro mosaic scenes included traditionally dressed people from Italy doing ordinary things like fishing or picking flowers. Often tourists took them home from their tours. (Well to do tourists in the case of your brooch) This is lovely!

Agram.m, 4 years agoThanks for your comment. As I understand you this is a brooch with a reasonable value?

wolcott1, 4 years agoI would say if it is gold and without any cracks or tiles missing it could be worth a few hundred more or less, depending upon the quality of the craftsmanship. So hard to tell by a picture, and I am no expert, but I happen to think it is lovely. Imagine all of the work it took for the craftspeople to make these- putting all of those tiny tiles together!

zede, 4 years agoIt's a really great micromosaic, most especially because the motif is very rare. It is Italian from the Roman workshops, and dates between the 1830s to 1840s, given the style. It looks like the pin and c-clasp were changed, which is a shame because that would have hallmarks indicating the country of origin and gold content. From the looks of the frame, it was probably mounted in eitherItaly or possibly France. Micromosaics can be valued based on many criteria, starting first with condition and rarity and complexity of the scene. Nice!